Now Commenting On:

Dickey yields two runs in Blue Jays debut

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The Red Sox roughed up Blue Jays ace R.A. Dickey for two runs over two innings en route to a 4-2 victory on Monday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

The game featured a rare matchup of knuckleballers, with Dickey on the hill for the Blue Jays and Minor Leaguer Steven Wright getting the call for Boston.

It marked Dickey's first appearance in a Blue Jays uniform since being acquired in a December trade with the Mets. His afternoon got off to a rough start, as a pair of seeing-eye singles put two on and nobody out in the first.

Boston's Jarrod Saltalamacchia then came through two batters later with an RBI single to right field. The second run came around to score when a Dickey knuckleball bounced away from catcher J.P. Arencibia, which allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. to trot in from third.

Dickey came back out for the second and allowed another leadoff single, but he was eventually aided by an inning-ending double play, which was turned by Jose Reyes and Lance Zawadzki. Dickey was charged with both runs on four hits and one walk while throwing 24 of his 34 pitches for strikes.

"Today was just, 'How does it feel out of your hand with your adrenaline going, off the slope of the mound, in a game situation,' and I was really pleased," Dickey said. "I threw a lot of strikes, I was 0-2 or 1-2 on about 70 or 80 percent of the hitters, and that's always a good sign for me."

Wright was relatively flawless and likely made a strong impression on Tim Wakefield, who was in attendance for the game and will be traveling to Fort Myers on Tuesday to begin a working relationship.

The 28-year-old Wright allowed just two hits while striking out three over two innings of work. He threw 25 of his 40 pitches for strikes and allowed just one batter to reach scoring position.

Left fielder Melky Cabrera led the way on offense for Toronto. He went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles while driving home Reyes in the third with a liner down the left-field line. Edwin Encarnacion got into the action in the sixth with a solo homer of J.P. Durbin on a 3-1 count. It was his first home run of the spring.

Up next for the Blue Jays: Ricky Romero will make his first start of the Grapefruit League season when the Blue Jays play host to the Twins on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. ET at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Romero is expected to be followed by Steve Delabar, Esmil Rogers, Dave Bush and Ramon Ortiz. Right-hander Mike Pelfrey is set to take the mound for Minnesota.